Stellantis NV, the world’s third-largest auto maker by sales, plans to lay out its strategy on electric vehicles Thursday, a crucial moment for Chief Executive Carlos Tavares as he articulates his vision for the company.

Mr. Tavares has made providing a clear path forward on electrification a priority for Stellantis, which was created earlier this year through a trans-Atlantic tie-up of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and France’s PSA Group.

In a presentation Thursday to analysts and journalists, Mr. Tavares and other Stellantis executives are expected to provide the company’s first in-depth look at how it aims to compete on electric cars with industry rivals such as General Motors Co. and the No. 2 auto maker, Volkswagen AG .

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Both of those companies, as well as others such as Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. , are committing tens of billions of dollars to the development of batteries and new plug-in models, as tougher tailpipe-emissions regulations globally prod auto makers to pivot from their more-than-century-old model of selling gasoline-powered vehicles. Global sales leader Toyota Motor Corp. is committed for the next decade to hybrid vehicles, which run on gasoline and have an electric motor that improves fuel efficiency.

Stellantis, which counts Jeep, Chrysler, Peugeot and Citroën among its portfolio of brands, earlier this year set its own targets for battery-powered vehicles, pledging to offer an electrified version of almost every model in its lineup by 2025. It has said that by 2030, 70% of its vehicle sales in Europe and 35% of its sales in the U.S. will be electric models—targets that analysts say are among the industry’s most ambitious.

Electric-vehicle entrepreneurs are working on the industry’s biggest bottleneck: charging infrastructure. Companies are building more chargers, but it might not be enough to make electric vehicles work for people who can’t plug in at home. Photo illustration: Carlos Waters/WSJ The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition

Still, Stellantis is widely seen by analysts as lagging behind many of its competitors on electric vehicles, in part because Fiat Chrysler had been slower to invest in the technology before the tie-up and its lineup is more tilted toward muscle cars and heavier trucks and sport-utility vehicles.

Executives have promoted the merger as giving both companies the scale and resources needed to compete in a sector where investment in costly new technologies, such as battery-powered cars, has become a necessity. Stellantis has said the merger is expected to deliver $6 billion in savings annually, much of which will be spent on efforts to add more plug-in models to its lineup.

“The only thing that Stellantis has to do is to put the various puzzle pieces together and explain some more details on essential strategy items,” Bank of America analyst Horst Schneider wrote in a recent note.

A Chrysler Pacifica minivan under assembly in Windsor, Ontario, in 2018.

A Chrysler Pacifica minivan under assembly in Windsor, Ontario, in 2018.

Photo: rebecca cook/Reuters

Stellantis’s two biggest car markets—Europe and the U.S.—are expected to tighten regulations limiting tailpipe emissions in the coming years, putting pressure on the company to lessen its reliance on gasoline-powered vehicles. Governments are also offering more incentives to get auto makers to invest in electrics.

In the U.S., President Biden has called for $174 billion in electric-vehicle-related spending, which includes fresh federal tax credits for purchasing plug-in cars and commercial trucks.

Meanwhile, other car companies are increasing their bets on battery-electric technology and the marketplace is becoming more crowded, with startups such as Rivian Automotive and Lucid Motors Inc. moving closer to selling their first plug-in models. Electric-vehicle pioneer Tesla Inc. continues to expand globally and fortify its grip on the market with growing sales and new-model debuts.

Jeep is part of Stellantis, formed by the PSA-Fiat Chrysler combination.

Jeep is part of Stellantis, formed by the PSA-Fiat Chrysler combination.

Photo: Gian Mattia D\'Alberto/Zuma Press

GM has already increased its planned spending on electric and autonomous vehicles twice this year, raising it to $35 billion through 2025, about 30% higher than a target set last November. The increase reflects the addition of two more battery factories, on top of ones already planned for Ohio and Tennessee.

Ford also has become more aggressive, unveiling in May an all-electric version of its bestselling vehicle, the F-150 truck. It plans to invest $30 billion in electric vehicles through 2025.

Stellantis needs to prove to investors the company’s ambitions are backed up by models that will be ready in the near-term and on a timeline that is on par with competitors, Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois said. This is particularly important in the U.S. and for the Stellantis truck lineup, which is likely to face competition from electric pickups in the works at rivals such as Ford and GM, he said.

“They need to show a product that looks like it is close to production so that the market removes this feeling that they are behind the curve,” Mr. Houchois said.

A Paris showroom for Peugeot, also part of Stellantis.

A Paris showroom for Peugeot, also part of Stellantis.

Photo: Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg News

Write to Nora Naughton at Nora.Naughton@wsj.com